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Post by windmill on May 18, 2022 7:44:35 GMT -5
Hello.
I am curious if my observation is common across the general population or just specific to the people around my way.
Whenever an activity is planned for a set time and duration, some older people, particularly retired ones, are always there early, not just 5-10 minutes but half an hour or more.
I would arrive ten minutes early, as is my wont, and found people were already there and preparing for the activity.
However getting there early doesn't mean they are ready to start earlier. The activity will usually commence around the set time.
The other observation is that the same people will then want to finish earlier than planned, usually by the same amount of time that they got there before the set time.
Is this common among the people you socialise with ?
Is it specifically a retiree thing ?
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Post by Leftee on May 18, 2022 7:52:22 GMT -5
I'm an on-time in, early-ish out person. I've not made any observations of others.
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Post by HenryJ on May 18, 2022 8:03:49 GMT -5
My wife and I were at a get-together last Saturday. It was scheduled for 4-7. We got there at 4:03 and left at 6.
A few years ago, one of our good friends took us out to eat at a restaurant. We got there a little after 6, ate, and stayed and talked until 9ish. At first, the other diners were mainly senior citizens, but when we left there it was a younger crowd of diners there.
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Post by Auf Kiltre on May 18, 2022 8:28:50 GMT -5
Old folks arrive early because they've been up since 4 a.m. and just want to get on with it. That or leave early so they can get to bed.
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Post by gato on May 18, 2022 8:43:00 GMT -5
My motto has always been "better an hour early than a minute late".
My practice at parties, gatherings, celebrations where I'm expected to attend: arrive, be seen, get gone
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Post by slacker 🐨 on May 18, 2022 8:49:04 GMT -5
My FIL is always at least 30 minutes early and the first to leave. I've been an "on time" guy my whole life. I put "on time" in quotes because that usually means 5-10 minutes early simply because I schedule some time for potential delays. I hate being late.
Whether or not I leave early depends entirely on the event and how much fun I'm having. I have to remind myself to not be the "things that wouldn't leave" at some events and I'm planning how early I can reasonably leave at others.
I have not noticed the early thing in general when hanging with people my age (late 50's). My wife is 30 minutes late to everything because she tries to time her preparations to be "just in time". She inevitably loses time battling a bad hair day or multiple attempts at wardrobe combinations. She'll sit and read, play games or watch TV until it's time to get ready, then be late. I've tried to gently coax her into getting ready first, then reading or whatever until it's time to go, but that hasn't worked yet.
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Post by RufusTeleStrat on May 18, 2022 9:01:16 GMT -5
Since I play daily, unless it is a tournament with a 8 am start, I play between 1156 (early Morning golf) or as late as 130, depending on the Tee time available.
Daily. Same 3 to 4 guys. All retired, but some still dabble in side work. All are 30 minutes early and are chomping to go. I ask do you want an earlier time, Like say 10 am. Always the same answer.... Oh no that is way to early.
So for a 1156 time they are there by 1120... and god bless them if we can find the ball on each hold we can easily play in 2 hours 40 minutes, but sometimes there are slower players and you should hear the squawking about slow play.
Where are you going? Got a date? Movie tickets? Enjoy yourself.
End rant
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Post by Taildragger on May 18, 2022 10:10:06 GMT -5
•It's important to arrive early in order to scout out the location of all the nearby restrooms.
•Then you'll want to hang around a bit after the event winds down to make sure that you don't need to use one of those restrooms before you leave.
---Sincerely, An Older Folk
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Post by Mfitz804 on May 18, 2022 10:36:50 GMT -5
I like to arrive on time, my wife prefers 10-15 minutes late "so I'm not the first person there". If my 15 year old daughter is coming this is not an issue, because getting her ready and out of the house on time is nearly impossible.
We stay until other people start leaving; at that point we see how we're feeling and if we want to stay, we do. I find leaving early to be a bit insulting to the host, who spent a lot of time, effort and money to set everything up (if its at their home, for example).
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Post by Taildragger on May 18, 2022 11:33:33 GMT -5
"15 year old daughter...impossible"
See? That post can safely be abbreviated without sacrificing its core content.
---Sincerely, Father of a Formerly 15-Year-Old Girl Twice
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Post by slacker 🐨 on May 18, 2022 11:41:36 GMT -5
Since I play daily, unless it is a tournament with a 8 am start, I play between 1156 (early Morning golf) or as late as 130, depending on the Tee time available. Daily. Same 3 to 4 guys. All retired, but some still dabble in side work. All are 30 minutes early and are chomping to go. I ask do you want an earlier time, Like say 10 am. Always the same answer.... Oh no that is way to early. So for a 1156 time they are there by 1120... and god bless them if we can find the ball on each hold we can easily play in 2 hours 40 minutes, but sometimes there are slower players and you should hear the squawking about slow play. Where are you going? Got a date? Movie tickets? Enjoy yourself. End rant I always arrive early for golf. There's nothing I hate more than...well, there are things I hate more, but I really despise rushing to the first tee. Getting ready is a ritual for me: Put my shoes on, get everything in my pockets (a few tees, a ball marker, ball mark repair tool, a couple balls, etc.), get my glove out, just basically get organized and ready to play. Then, if there's time, I'll put on the practice green for 5 minutes or so to get a feel for how the greens are playing. Finally, get my cooler of beer in the cart because I'm going to need an attitude adjustment sometime within the first few holes and then I'm ready to go. |
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Post by Taildragger on May 18, 2022 14:26:37 GMT -5
Before I retired, I had a job that required me to schedule/choreograph each day in minute detail in order to get all my work done. Also, If I clocked in more than 5 minutes late, I was docked for 15 minutes pay. A few decades operating under those conditions caused me to always err on the side of arriving early. Since the traffic is pretty unpredictable where I live, I often arrive early if the traffic turns out to be light and I've allowed a larger-than-needed cushion because the traffic could just as easily have been heavy.
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Post by Mfitz804 on May 18, 2022 14:27:49 GMT -5
"15 year old daughter...impossible"
See? That post can safely be abbreviated without sacrificing its core content.
---Sincerely, Father of a Formerly 15-Year-Old Girl Twice
She has her moments, but when I think of what I was up to as a 13-15 year old, I think I’m pretty lucky. |
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Post by tahitijack on May 18, 2022 15:47:58 GMT -5
Typical of Hawaiian music artists is to start on time but keep playing as long as there is an audience. Theory: once you are set up and sitting down comfortably you can just keep playing until you run out of ideas. Aloha.
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Post by Taildragger on May 18, 2022 16:19:29 GMT -5
See? That post can safely be abbreviated without sacrificing its core content.
---Sincerely, Father of a Formerly 15-Year-Old Girl Twice
She has her moments, but when I think of what I was up to as a 13-15 year old, I think I’m pretty lucky.
Yeah, it's all relative. Ours both turned out fine, but 15-17 was tough. |
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michael
Wholenote
Recent Retiree
Posts: 620
Age: old enough to know better and not care
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Post by michael on May 18, 2022 16:23:13 GMT -5
When I was a kid mom and dad were late every where we went. I hated it! I made my mind up that I was never going to be late if I was able to prevent it. I'm always 15 to 30 minutes early. If I'm playing, I'm 30 to 60 minutes early depending on how much I have to set up.
My wife hates it! She wants to walk in right on time...
I don't necessarily leave early though. Depends on what's going on...
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Post by oldnjplayer on May 19, 2022 5:57:25 GMT -5
by myself I am always early to arrive, with my wife we are always barely on time or late. When I leave depends on where I am at. If it is a family or friends event (pre COVID) we are one of the last to leave, unless we have to drive a great distance. If it it a play or concert, we leave early to avoid lines at the bathroom and parking lot traffic.
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Post by Rick Knight on May 19, 2022 7:22:41 GMT -5
Whenever an activity is planned for a set time and duration, some older people, particularly retired ones, are always there early, not just 5-10 minutes but half an hour or more. This seems to frequently be the case. In my working days, 5 minutes early was on time. In the 55+ community where I live now, being 5 or 10 minutes early usually insures being among the last to arrive. |
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Post by HenryJ on May 19, 2022 7:37:25 GMT -5
Not to be a female-basher or anything, but I have known several men who have said that their wives don't seem to know the difference between "what time to be there" and "what time to leave the house." As if Scotty is beaming you there.
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Post by rickyguitar on May 19, 2022 8:20:58 GMT -5
Well I don't like being late. I am not really a social critter so in that setting I am ready to go when I get there. Gigging I am early. Get set up and gave time to wind up or fix problems. Wife loathes being late but likes staying late.
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Post by Lesterstrat on May 19, 2022 11:15:39 GMT -5
Judging from the “Macca” thread, I think this conversation is moot because I don’t see any of you getting off your couch to go anywhere to begin with.
Poor old Paul will be singing to the bar help soon. Lol
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Post by Leftee on May 19, 2022 11:22:12 GMT -5
Now if we’re taking a Paul Stanley concert…
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Post by Lesterstrat on May 19, 2022 11:33:40 GMT -5
Now if we’re taking a Paul Stanley concert… Oh, people pay hundreds just sit in a room and listen to old Gene and Paul sit on bar stools and bash on poor old Ace and Sweet Pete. |
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Post by slacker 🐨 on May 19, 2022 11:44:47 GMT -5
Not to be a female-basher or anything, but I have known several men who have said that their wives don't seem to know the difference between "what time to be there" and "what time to leave the house." As if Scotty is beaming you there. Mine used to be guilty of that. Now it's a subtly different issue. For her, every relatively local drive takes 15 minutes, traffic never alters the travel time, and her grabbing her coat is the same as wheels rolling. Plus, she'll take a drive that's 20 minutes, almost all interstate, and think we can pick up our son "on the way" with no change in departure time. Now the 20 minute drive takes 45 minutes as we negotiate a bunch of street traffic to/from my son's house. If google says it's a 15 minute drive at 6 am, she assumes it'll be the same at 5:10pm. Even if it's really a 15 minute drive, it takes her5+ minutes to get her shoes on and get into the car....usually longer when she decides last minute that she wants different shoes and a glass of tea for the drive. None of that is an issue when going to a party or something (unless it's a surprise party) but I hate it when we're going to donate blood or something where appointments are used to balance the load of the workers. We always end up walking in at the same time as the next set of appointments, which is really rude. |
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Post by Leftee on May 19, 2022 12:22:47 GMT -5
Now if we’re taking a Paul Stanley concert… Oh, people pay hundreds just sit in a room and listen to old Gene and Paul sit on bar stools and bash on poor old Ace and Sweet Pete. I’d pay a king’s ransom for a front row seat to a “Paul Stanley Sings the Greatest Hits of Barry Manilow.” |
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Post by Leftee on May 19, 2022 12:30:09 GMT -5
… I’d even stay out past 10.
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Post by Rick Knight on May 21, 2022 6:42:08 GMT -5
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Post by HenryJ on May 21, 2022 9:53:48 GMT -5
I was never in the military, but I was in a marching band.
The prevailing attitude was "If you're early, you're on time. If you're on time, you're late."
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